Jack Mann MBE (19 March 1906 – 26 May 1989) was a

winemaker A winemaker or vintner is a person engaged in winemaking. They are generally employed by wineries or wine companies, where their work includes: *Cooperating with viticulturists *Monitoring the maturity of grapes to ensure their quality and to det ...

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to ...

and devised Houghton White Burgundy, a wine that became the flagship of the Western Australian wine industry. He was chief winemaker at

Houghton Winery Houghton Wines is an Australian winery originating in the Swan Valley wine region of Western Australia at the historic Houghton Estate. A subsidiary of Accolade Wines, the company operates four of Western Australia's largest vineyards at Moo ...

in the Swan Valley, from 1930 to 1972 and is considered one of the pioneers of the Western Australian wine industry.

Early life

Mann was born in

Perth Perth is the list of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the Australian states and territories of Australia, state of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth most populous city in Aust ...

. His father George was a well-known brandy maker from Chateau Tanunda winery in

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...

Barossa Valley The Barossa Valley (Barossa German: ''Barossa Tal'') is a valley in South Australia located northeast of Adelaide city centre. The valley is formed by the North Para River. It is notable as a major wine-producing region and tourist destinat ...

and his mother was a member of the Sobels winemaking family.

Career

Mann started work at Houghton's with his father George in 1922. He succeeded his father as chief winemaker eight years later. In the 1930s his

oloroso Oloroso ("scented" in Spanish) is a variety of fortified wine (sherry) made in Jerez and Montilla-Moriles and produced by oxidative aging. It is normally darker than Amontillado. Oloroso is usually dark and nutty. Unlike the fino and Amontillado ...

won the first of 13 successive Australian Champion awards. In 1932 Mann introduced a butcher's mincing machine which fragmented grape skins, but not the seeds, after the stalks had been separated from the bunches. In 1936 he acquired a Seitz germ proof filter, the first to be imported into Australia, which allowed sterile filtration. The next year Chenin blanc won first prize at the Melbourne Wine Show, and Houghton White Burgundy was born. During his career he won many awards for

claret Bordeaux wine ( oc, vin de Bordèu, french: vin de Bordeaux) is produced in the Bordeaux region of southwest France, around the city of Bordeaux, on the Garonne River. To the north of the city the Dordogne River joins the Garonne forming the b ...

burgundy Burgundy (; french: link=no, Bourgogne ) is a historical territory and former administrative region and province of east-central France. The province was once home to the Dukes of Burgundy from the early 11th until the late 15th century. The ...

tawny port Port wine (also known as vinho do Porto, , or simply port) is a Portuguese fortified wine produced in the Douro Valley of northern Portugal. It is typically a sweet red wine, often served with dessert, although it also comes in dry, sem ...

, vintage port, liqueur frontignac and liqueur hermitage. He was awarded an MBE in 1964 for services to the

viticulture Viticulture (from the Latin word for ''vine'') or winegrowing (wine growing) is the cultivation and harvesting of grapes. It is a branch of the science of horticulture. While the native territory of ''Vitis vinifera'', the common grape vine, ran ...

industry and ''

The West Australian ''The West Australian'' is the only locally edited daily newspaper published in Perth, Western Australia. It is owned by Seven West Media (SWM), as is the state's other major newspaper, ''The Sunday Times (Western Australia), The Sunday Times'' ...

'' newspaper included him in their list of

's 100 most influential people in 2006.

Sport

Jack Mann was a noted

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by st ...

er and successful underarm bowler: he took over 2000 wickets in WA grade cricket including 81 in the 1927/28 season. The Jack Mann Oval in Middle Swan is named for him.

Personal life and family

In 1938, Mann married Angela Doolette. He had three sons and a daughter. He died on 26 May 1989 at his Middle Swan home. Lamont's winery in the Swan Valley was founded by Jack's daughter and son-in-law Corin and Neil Lamont. His son, Tony Mann represented Australia in four cricket test matches and was the first Australian to score a test century as a nightwatchman. His son, Dorham Mann also operates a small winery at Upper Swan producing a method champenoise sparkling wine made from cabernet sauvignon grapes. His granddaughter Kate Lamont is a noted cook and businesswoman. His grandson, Robert Mann, is the Estate Director at Newton Vineyard in Napa Valley, California. Robert Mann also makes wine from his family's vineyard in the Swan Valley, Western Australia under the label

Corymbia ''Corymbia'', commonly known as bloodwoods, is a genus of about one hundred species of tree that, along with ''Eucalyptus'', ''Angophora'' and several smaller groups, are referred to as eucalypts. Until 1990, corymbias were included in the gen ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mann, Jack Australian winemakers Members of the Order of the British Empire 1906 births 1989 deaths